A comprehensive review on energy management strategies for electric vehicles considering degradation using aging models

Electrification in the transportation industry is becoming more important to face global warming and replace fossil fuels in the future. Among the available energy sources Li-ion battery and proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) are the most promising energy sources. Therefore, employing them in fuel cell hybrid electric vehicles (FCHEVs) to combine their advantages is one of the favorable solutions. However, they still face a major challenge residing in their aging that cause the drop of system performance. On one hand, the degradation is the result of the interaction between several aging mechanisms that react differently with various operating conditions. On the other hand, a hybrid system requires an essential energy management strategy (EMS) for fuel economy and optimal power share. At the end, this EMS has an important impact on the lifetime of sources in term of reducing or favorizing the degradation. Therefore, it is important to consider the degradation in the objectives of the designed EMS. Since the degradation is usually neglected when designing an EMS, this paper tends to review the possible methods for designing a health-conscious EMS. Hence, this paper presents a summary of the main fuel cell (FC) and Li-ion battery aging mechanisms as well as the useful degradation models for state of health estimation. In addition, the existing works that consider the degradation of on-board energy sources in their approaches for increasing their durability are classified and analysed. Remaining challenges are detailed along with a discussion and outlooks about current and future trends of health-conscious EMS. Autho

Can current national surveillance systems in England and Wales monitor sexual transmission of hepatitis C among HIV-infected men who have sex with men?

BACKGROUND: Recent reports suggest an increase in sexually-transmitted hepatitis C infection among HIV-infected men who have sex with men (MSM) in European cities. We investigated whether current national surveillance systems in England and Wales (E&W) are able to monitor sexual transmission of hepatitis C infection among HIV-infected MSM. METHODS: Routine laboratory reports of hepatitis C diagnoses and data from sentinel hepatitis C testing surveillance were matched to HIV diagnosis reports to determine: (i) the number of MSM diagnosed with HIV and hepatitis C (1996–2003); (ii) the number of HIV-diagnosed MSM tested for hepatitis C and found to be positive at sentinel sites (2003). RESULTS: (i) Between 1996–2003, 38,027 hepatitis C diagnoses were reported; 25,938 (68%) were eligible for matching with HIV diagnoses. Thirty-one men (four in London) had both a HIV and hepatitis C diagnosis where the only risk was sex with another man. Numbers of "co-diagnosed" MSM increased from 0 in 1996 to 14 in 2003. The majority of MSM (22/31) tested hepatitis C positive after HIV diagnosis. (ii) Of 78,058 test results from sentinel hepatitis C testing sites in 2003, 67,712 (87%) were eligible for matching with HIV diagnoses. We identified 242 HIV-diagnosed MSM who did not inject drugs who tested for hepatitis C in 2003; 11 (4.5%) tested hepatitis C positive (95%CI: 2.3%–8.0%). Applying this percentage to all MSM seen for HIV-related care in E&W in 2003, an estimated 680 MSM living with diagnosed HIV would have tested positive for sexually-transmitted hepatitis C (95%CI: 346–1208). CONCLUSION: Matching routine laboratory reports of hepatitis C diagnoses with HIV diagnoses only identified 31 HIV infected MSM with sexually-transmitted hepatitis C infection. Clinical studies suggest that this is an underestimate. On the other hand, matching sentinel surveillance reports with HIV diagnoses revealed that in E&W in 2003 nearly 5% of HIV-diagnosed MSM tested hepatitis C positive where the only risk was sex with another man. Reports of sexually-transmitted hepatitis C infection were not confined to London. Enhanced surveillance is needed to monitor sexually-transmitted hepatitis C among HIV-infected MSM in E&W

Biorefining of wheat straw:accounting for the distribution of mineral elements in pretreated biomass by an extended pretreatment–severity equation

BACKGROUND: Mineral elements present in lignocellulosic biomass feedstocks may accumulate in biorefinery process streams and cause technological problems, or alternatively can be reaped for value addition. A better understanding of the distribution of minerals in biomass in response to pretreatment factors is therefore important in relation to development of new biorefinery processes. The objective of the present study was to examine the levels of mineral elements in pretreated wheat straw in response to systematic variations in the hydrothermal pretreatment parameters (pH, temperature, and treatment time), and to assess whether it is possible to model mineral levels in the pretreated fiber fraction. RESULTS: Principal component analysis of the wheat straw biomass constituents, including mineral elements, showed that the recovered levels of wheat straw constituents after different hydrothermal pretreatments could be divided into two groups: 1) Phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, manganese, zinc, and calcium correlated with xylose and arabinose (that is, hemicellulose), and levels of these constituents present in the fiber fraction after pretreatment varied depending on the pretreatment-severity; and 2) Silicon, iron, copper, aluminum correlated with lignin and cellulose levels, but the levels of these constituents showed no severity-dependent trends. For the first group, an expanded pretreatment-severity equation, containing a specific factor for each constituent, accounting for variability due to pretreatment pH, was developed. Using this equation, the mineral levels could be predicted with R(2) > 0.75; for some with R(2) up to 0.96. CONCLUSION: Pretreatment conditions, especially pH, significantly influenced the levels of phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, manganese, zinc, and calcium in the resulting fiber fractions. A new expanded pretreatment-severity equation is proposed to model and predict mineral composition in pretreated wheat straw biomass

Gaining Greater Insight into HCV Emergence in HIV-Infected Men Who Have Sex with Men: The HEPAIG Study

OBJECTIVES: The HEPAIG study was conducted to better understand Hepatitis C virus (HCV) transmission among human immuno-deficiency (HIV)-infected men who have sex with men (MSM) and assess incidence of HCV infection among this population in France. METHODS AND RESULTS: Acute HCV infection defined by anti-HCV or HCV ribonucleic acid (RNA) positivity within one year of documented anti-HCV negativity was notified among HIV-infected MSM followed up in HIV/AIDS clinics from a nationwide sampling frame. HIV and HCV infection characteristics, HCV potential exposures and sexual behaviour were collected by the physicians and via self-administered questionnaires. Phylogenetic analysis of the HCV-NS5B region was conducted. HCV incidence was 48/10 000 [95% Confidence Interval (CI):43-54] and 36/10 000 [95% CI: 30-42] in 2006 and 2007, respectively. Among the 80 men enrolled (median age: 40 years), 55% were HIV-diagnosed before 2000, 56% had at least one sexually transmitted infection in the year before HCV diagnosis; 55% were HCV-infected with genotype 4 (15 men in one 4d-cluster), 32.5% with genotype 1 (three 1a-clusters); five men were HCV re-infected; in the six-month preceding HCV diagnosis, 92% reported having casual sexual partners sought online (75.5%) and at sex venues (79%), unprotected anal sex (90%) and fisting (65%); using recreational drugs (62%) and bleeding during sex (55%). CONCLUSIONS: This study emphasizes the role of multiple unprotected sexual practices and recreational drugs use during sex in the HCV emergence in HIV-infected MSM. It becomes essential to adapt prevention strategies and inform HIV-infected MSM with recent acute HCV infection on risk of re-infection and on risk-reduction strategies